Seismic Response Control Using Base Isolation Strategy

Earthquakes are one of the natural hazards that occur due to sudden violent movement of earth’s surface which releases energy and has destructive power in many parts of the world. The development of recent technologies for the control of seismic hazards catches the attention of structural engineers to make the structures seismically resistant. The seismic base isolation technique is a passive protective system. It limits the effects of the earthquake attack through a flexible base which decouples the structure from the ground motion, and the structural response accelerations are usually less than that of the ground acceleration. This technique has been incorporated and studied practically in many multi-storey structures. In the present work, a laminated rubber bearing isolator has been designed and the properties of the isolator are obtained. Then the dynamic analysis of the structure has been carried out and the performance of the building with and without isolator is studied. A parametric study has also been conducted and the results can be used in the implementation of a real time structure to improve its seismic performance. Keywordsbase isolation, flexible base, laminated rubber bearing, parametric study, passive system